''Cottocomephorus'' is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. This genus is endemic to

Lake Baikal Lake Baikal (, russian: Oзеро Байкал, Ozero Baykal ); mn, Байгал нуур, Baigal nuur) is a rift lake in Russia. It is situated in southern Siberia, between the federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...

and its surrounding tributaries in Russia. They have relatively large pectoral fins and reach up to in total length. They are an important food for the Baikal seal, during the winter second only to the

golomyanka ''Comephorus'', known as the golomyankas or Baikal oilfish, are a genus comprising two species of peculiar, sculpin fishes endemic to Lake Baikal in Russia. ''Comephorus'' is the only genus in the family Comephoridae. Golomyankas are pelagic fi ...

Taxonomy

''Cottocomephorus'' was first proposed as a

monospecific genus In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

in 1900 by the French

ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish ( Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of Octobe ...

Jacques Pellegrin when he described ''Cottocomephorus megalops'' as a new species. The genus was classified in the family Cottocomephoridae; however, the 5th edition of ''

Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011) is a standard reference for fish systematics. Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of the diversity and classification of the ...

'' classifies the genus within the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Cottinae Cottinae is a subfamily of ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Cottidae, the typical sculpin A sculpin is a type of fish that belongs to the superfamily Cottoidea in the order Scorpaeniformes.Kane, E. A. and T. E. Higham. (2012)Life in t ...

of the family Cottidae, studies having found that the genera formerly included in the Cottocomephoridae were a

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

arising from the genus '' Cottus''.

Species

There are currently three recognized species in this genus: * ''

Cottocomephorus alexandrae ''Cottocomephorus'' is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. This genus is endemic to Lake Baikal and its surrounding tributaries in Russia. They have relatively large pectoral fins and re ...

'' Taliev, 1935 * ''

Cottocomephorus grewingkii The Baikal yellowfin (''Cottocomephorus grewingkii''), also known as the yellow-finned sculpin or yellow-wing sculpin, is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. This species is endemic to La ...

'' ( Dybowski, 1874) (Baikal yellowfin) * ''

Cottocomephorus inermis ''Cottocomephorus'' is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. This genus is endemic to Lake Baikal and its surrounding tributaries in Russia. They have relatively large pectoral fins and re ...

'' ( Yakovlev, 1890) (Longfin Baikal sculpin) Cottocomephorus alexandrae

References

Cottinae Taxa named by Jacques Pellegrin Scorpaeniformes genera Fish of Lake Baikal {{Scorpaeniformes-stub